Press for molding building blocks



I 1 4 m ma 1 9v k 5 m a Q W T R 41 0 E 0 f 1 B l4 9 Z 2 i 0 I (Ittorucg Filed Feb. 24, 1945 Patented July 19, 1949 estee eve -9 m 31 9 2 is n ni n Isl t. producing mdl'defdhl 11 1 bl s a Ch fi ucii s nd, W m othersim ilar'mateliiai. ce it l l i u fd'thet s ch blo ks mu t be similarinsizefithash places certain oer .o rem n 'm i s u e my n t fair pressure blocks b me s 0 on to'ther the blocks td'h e seasoned moving tn 'm i mre in operati n aIi "re- "An object of the present in ve ion video, novel 'appalr us iorf, molds and renijovingf he r n while still'in th 'ifiold's, 155; e

amount of material n a mold'af d v l ng the moisturethere'froriiby mc v p plying, ll P b. 5 1 l? w im] it still in themql'd.

' A further object is to provide an improved a tu by ih b h i i o f ed; t i f d ture is remove e'ir "and gel; block prejcleve th hese pqnslstencv and t n "Further Objects and eqv e ese w l e mere leariivfiinde stoqd irons thef bo 'qvy n desqrip 0n and from the accompanying drawings" in wh Fig. 1 is a plan view-insection on line l| of Fig.,2 a c Fig. 2 is a iro t viewi l central vertical seci n O e 91?! enpe ie us u e! in n v method ai'id'showifig o'riestep of et 06 Fig. 3 is a side view thereof fir ntraive'itical section and showingfilifihefstfiiif my improved method.

tijig'gds a similar view showing a still iurther Sep- .n-. l Fig. 5 is a perspective View 9: a building block produced by saidmethod. "f

{is illystrated in"the'"'drawings, my improved method for molding hloclglsrgiaybe practiced with the use of'moldingappafatus' coifiprising' a'ba se 5 having an upright portion 6 forming the bottom of the mold and on which are mounted side plates th'e'edges ofthe 1 1 l;-1 which are preferably channelled to receive t if tend e' r let Th s de a b and. ee e es r v p ac i htv rt ga "p ti ri a g ed t ri ht P01." fi e fif th' ase,e i cle e si' qg heiib m ns f r in Q and; J Whis eng ge s ectthey l 'h s fa 1 "n t; he si P ate t' l: h m ied'thet theeems "U' e l ser t t i tid rt naes than h ams T i is per passing the clamping ring I]; over the cam .ni 1; i fi rfi ih l le e Kin *9 i s lam i posit; 2 9 e" the l s '2; Whe e d d. ro t e d'pl tes 'a eclemned t th r a ebqve esci ib'ejd', they form aold having-a cavity [3; In

I ioim' illustrated, wall 'sfof. thesaid cavity lif'lftabli iv ed with "half-rou n i ti is w i cfh' xten ii wardly in the cavity from the plates rennmgt'nemold to thereby provide a W s sho n in, Ei fl'hevine a sre 5 and e ilen in e d t v s per ivill rlvt dedf r f; v 121' a novelmet 1d off-joining: the blocks toath r as full as -r he i end ng 1i-' ion filed Ff ary 24 l9 4 Seria1-N0. 579558. v dd Whie fi s-fll b w the'said pla s ham a stop shqulderl'l whicl r steamed toer i gjage top edges of the plates 9 and 8 "G6 he eby l mit th d n d firs fel ep fer th pe rt qu e z 6f block ble'm'e' m ded T e sa temi provided- With a hal'f -"roundr ib [Q projecting -fr om-'its" bottom andarrespbnamgto the ribs l4. Grooves l9 l9=are also provided in the sidesofi saidram to receive the eroj ecti ie r b in onthe side plates 1, 1.

20; slidahlymounted within an ilfiih ieqqpen t sin aid a is provided w th step-shmfliistit abu t n e pond ns shoulder in said opening. The-"said plunger has a stem e iend n fl-there rqm o a poin b ve in e. oi th am The said molding-apparatus may be used in co nect ion with a s uitable compound press hav ihg a plunger 2 3 adapted ifor fOIOiIIg't-hB ram I6 downwardly into themold and-a-separate plunger ilflvhich is adapted to" force the-plunger 20' down verdivi ic the termed blo k; fterh r mha tee hed h limit Qt" ts m e and 'd 19y abutment between the stop-shoulder 'fl and tops of plates I -1 and'8 --8. lhe operation of "said; apparatus is as follows:

v he mold is first assembled by standi'ngthe nieies 1-1 ee i v it e s shownincFigs 1 and .zfagainst the upright portion 6 0f the base and then forcing the clamp rings 9 and II] downwardly over the cams H and I2 to firmly clamp said plates in position and provide the molding cavity I 3. It is here pointed out that slits are provided between the said plates which permit the passage of liquid therethrough but which are too small to permit the passage of the granular contents of the mixture material used for forming the block.

After the mold has been assembled as above described, the cavity is filled with the mixture, indicated at 25, which may consist of a suitable amount of inorganic material and which may be earth, sand, gravel or the like, mixed with a suitable amount of cement and water. The said mixture is placed in the mold until the cavity is filled to the top thereof and the mixture may be measured by scraping the surplus with a straight edge moved across the tops of the plates 1-! and After the mixture has been so placed in the cavity, the ram 6 is positioned over the cavity and the entire mold is placed under the plungers 23 and 24 of the compound press. The plunger 23 is then first caused to move to force the ram 1 6 downwardly and compress the mixture 25 in the cavity. This will drive out excess water in the mixture through the crevices between the plates until the ram I6 is stopped by engagement between the tops of the mold into stop-shoulder IT. A block, as shown in Fig. 5, is now formed to the correct size, but it may vary from previous blocks in the density of the material therein and will still contain a certain amount of moisture. The plunger 20 is now forced downwardly by the operation of the plunger 24. This operation of the plunger 2!! will further compress the material in the mold, without changing the size of the block, and cause extraction of any excess water or moisture remaining in the block.

The pressure applied upon the plunger 20 by the plunger 24 may be measured in any suitable manner, so that the said plunger 20 is forced into the formed block within the mold only to the required distance to eject moisture and compress the material to the required or predetermined density. Thus the distance to which the said plunger 20 is forced into the block may vary according to the consistency of the mixture placed in the mold, but each block, when completed, will be freed of all surplus moisture and may be compressed to a density which is uniform with that of other blocks produced in said mold.

From the above description, it will be clearly understood that I have provided a novel apparatus, for molding building blocks, which is economical and which will assure uniform consistency as well as a minimum of moisture content in each block.

The said novel apparatus has been found particularly useful in producing molded blocks from a material consisting of inorganic earth mixed with a small percentage of cement, as a binder, and may be mixed with a surplus of water to facilitate mixing and pouring of the mixture. The pressure applied by the plunger 20 to the material in the mold serves to force all the surplus water out of the block by compressing the material so that the said water is squeezed out of the material and forced out of the mold through the slits between the plates 1-! and 8-8. Due to the relatively small displacement caused by the plunger 24, a very high pressure may be applied for the final compressing operation in the block without requiring an unduly heavy press.

It will be further understood that my novel apparatus permits molding of all blocks to uniform size and up to a reasonably uniform density of the material, then applying a final internal pressure in said block for bringing the density thereof to a uniform degree while still retaining the block at the uniform size.

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus for molding blocks of material containing liquid, said apparatus consisting of a vented mold having a vertical cavity, a vertical ram adapted to compress material in said cavity and dimensioned with respect to said cavity to prevent the escape of material in a direction toward the upper end of the ram, said ram having a central bore therein and a plunger slidable in said bore and normally projecting from the upper end of the ram and positioned at all times forcompletely closing the bore in the ram, cooperating means on the ram and plunger arranged to limit the upward movement of the plunger relative to the ram, a powered plunger engageable with the upper end of the ram and adapted to depress the ram in the mold cavity, and an independently operating plunger adapted to engage and lower the plunger carried by the ram into the material for applying internal pressure to the material in the cavity while held by the ram to further compress said material and expell liquid therefrom,

2. Apparatus for molding blocks of material containing liquid, said apparatus consisting of a vented mold having a vertical cavity, a vertical ram adapted to compress material in said cavity and dimensioned with respect to said cavity to prevent the escape of material in a direction to- Ward the upper end of the ram, said ram having a central bore therein and a plunger slidable in said bore and normally projecting from the upper end of the ram and positioned at all times for completely closing the bore in the ram, cooperating means on the ram and plunger arranged to limit the upward movement of the plunger relative to the ram, a powered plunger engageable with the upper end of the ram and adapted to depress the ram in the mold cavity, an independently operating plunger adapted to engage and lower the plunger carried by the ram into the material for applying internal pressure to the material in the cavity while held by the ram to further compress said material and expel liquid therefrom, and means on the said ram adapted to be moved into engagement with the mold for limiting movement of the ram into the mold.

ROBERT S. ELBER'I'Y, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

Miller et a1. Aug. 26, 

